DyMynd uses personality profiling to pair women, financial advisers

The DyMynd infographic is made up of 3 component parts, each represented by a diamond. The top diamond, in blue, represents personality scales. The second diamond, in green, represents engagement scales. The third diamond, in grey, represents learning scales. (dymynd.com)

A Chicago company is taking a matchmaking-type approach to pairing women with financial advisers using a psychological assessment tool.

DyMynd founder and former floor trader Carolyn Leonard is leading the company through a pivot that will produce a new tool geared toward women and other underrepresented groups. Leonard said she is developing partnerships with two large financial institutions, one of which will join DyMynd in a pilot of the revamped personality survey this summer.

“We’re a psychological assessment tool for the financial services industry to better engage diverse people,” Leonard said. Her goal is to get DyMynd’s tools into the hands of large institutions whose advisers, she said, do not always reflect the diversity of the American population.

Leonard co-founded the company in 2011 with a plan to help financial advisers better understand themselves and their clientele. Now she sees more promise in a targeted approach. She said research has shown that women often say they feel misunderstood by their investment advisers.

A 2013 study by Financial Finesse, a nationwide provider of financial education programs, found that women lag men in nearly every aspect of financial literacy. The data revealed the greatest knowledge gap pertained to money and debt management and general investment knowledge. Eighty-seven percent of men reported having general investment knowledge regarding stocks, bonds and mutual funds, compared with just 67 percent of women.

In fall 2013, Leonard started shifting her focus toward the more emotional aspects of financial security, particularly as they pertain to women. She did so after learning through roundtable discussions that women wanted to better understand themselves in relation to their money.

Leonard noticed many of the women she spoke to, ages 35 to 80, expressed similar concerns. Since so many women outlive their husbands, she said, many were afraid of “bag lady” syndrome, or the fear chance that they would outlive their money. She wanted to give them a way to understand their finances and allay those fears.

DyMynd (pronounced “diamond”) offers an Identity assessment tool that Leonard says is designed for individual investors and money managers alike. The research-based survey assesses a person’s learning, thinking and decision-making styles and produces a profile that helps money managers better understand their clients. Leonard said 1,000 people have taken the survey so far.

The next step of the process is the DyMynd Match, which Leonard says helps financial institutions best pair employees with clients based on compatibility. Leonard says DyMynd makes money by licensing the survey to institutions that pay per use and cover the cost for investors. She would not provide sales data or details on the performance of the company.

“[They] might be compatible, but it doesn’t guarantee that it will be a successful investor-adviser relationship,” said Oberlander, one of Barron’s top 30 women financial advisers over the last two years. She said investor-adviser relationships thrive on conversation, experience and the right tools and resources.

A recent study based on six months of IPA data said that there was no typical “woman investor” and that advisers must take a personal approach to identifying the right investing strategy for each client.

Oberlander said while the DyMynd or IPA surveys are good starting points, Oberlander says they cannot replace the relationship-building power of frank, probing conversations.

“It’s certainly an interesting idea, but it isn’t a total solution by any means,” Oberlander said. “If a company licenses the technology, that doesn’t necessarily mean the advisers are going to deliver better.”